Page 92 of In Cold Blood

As they exited, Harry leaned against his vehicle, smoking a cigarette.

“All good, officers?”

“The place out back. What’s that for?”

Noah had seen the framework of a building, nothing but plastic hung down to protect the inside.

“An addition to handle the demand. The brewery has really taken off in the last few years. We create our own IPAs. Some of the freshest micro-brewed ales and lagers you’ll find in New York State. You’re free to check it out. I have nothing to hide.”

“Don’t bother. We already did,” Ray said. “It’s empty. Nothing inside. Just the foundation.”

“Not for long,” Harry added. “The Adirondacks won’t only be known for its peaks and the Olympic Games. You watch, we’ll soon be called the IPA capital of the East.”

Still, Noah returned to the back and made his way around to the new addition. A few officers were searching behind stacks of pine that were ready to be assembled. Once again Axel didn’t find anything.

Outside, Ray was conferring with Hendrix from the Sheriff’s Office. He was probably telling him a joke as Hendrix broke into laughter. Callie was waiting for him. “Any luck?”

“Nope. All clean.”

“Like I told you, officer. I’ve got nothing to hide. I run an honest establishment and having you show up here doesn’t look good for business,” he said, motioning across the road to where curious bystanders watched from afar. “I’ll be sure to have a few words with the mayor.”

“You do that,” Noah said.

As he walked back to the Bronco, Callie fell in step.

“I know you’re disappointed, but hey, at least we can scratch this place off our list. I took the chance to speak with Harry. Seems he was working until two on the night of Luke’s death. Multiple employees were able to vouch for him, unless, he asked them to lie. Based on the timing of your brother’s death, there’s no way he could have been there.”

“But Cyrus could have.”

“Yeah, well, we’ve obtained an address from Harry. He’s been living at some apartment block in town. Local PD has sent officers over.” She tapped the air with her finger. “Oh, and you were right. They managed to find a thumbprint on the button of Luke’s radio. But it gets better. There was blood mixed in with it. Seems our caller was injured and bleeding. Anyway, they swabbed the radio last night for DNA and this morning expedited it to Parabon NanoLabs in Virginia for processing.”

24

The brakes were slammed on the investigation with a phone call.

Four calls, to be exact. They were all left as voice messages on his phone when he’d returned to the Bronco. While searching High Peaks Pub and Brewery, he’d left behind his phone attached to the magnetic holder.

Noah held a finger up to Callie as he listened.

He closed his eyes tight.

“Shoot. I completely forgot,” he said, hanging up and hitting redial.

“What?” she asked.

“It’s Saturday. I told Lena I would get together with my kids. I didn’t think I would be involved in a search today. I was meant to swing by at 8 a.m.”

He called her back. It rang a few times before she answered.

“Ah, you are alive,” she said.

“That’s not funny.”

“Sorry, wasn’t meant to be. Let me guess. Work?”

“Things have changed. I’m going to be here longer than Monday. We had a limited window to search a property.”

“Some things don’t change, do they, Noah?”